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Expression and characterization of functional dog flavin-containing monooxygenase 1.

A full-length dog (beagle) flavin-containing monooxygenase 1 (FMO1) cDNA (dFMO1) was obtained from liver by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The amino acid sequence of dFMO1 was 89% homologous to human FMO1. Using a baculovirus expression system in Sf-9 insect cells, dFMO1 was expressed to protein levels of 0.4 nmol/mg, as determined by immunoquantitation. The flavin content of the expressed enzyme was consistent with immunodetectable dFMO1 protein levels. Expressed dFMO1 catalyzed NADPH-dependent methyl p-tolyl sulfide oxidation, with K(m) and V(max) values of 98.6 microM and 63.8 nmol of S-oxide formed/min/mg of protein, respectively. By comparison, human FMO1 showed similar values of 87.1 microM (K(m)) and 51.0 nmol/min/mg (V(max)). Activity for dFMO1 showed characteristic pH dependence, with a 4.5-fold increase in S-oxidase activity as the incubation pH increased from 7.6 to 9.0. Human FMO1 also showed an increase in reaction rate with pH but a somewhat lower optimum of 8.0 to 8.4. dFMO1 also catalyzed imipramine N-oxidation, with a K(m) of 4.7 microM and a V(max) of 82.1 nmol/min/mg of protein. This enzyme displayed other characteristics of FMO enzymes, with rapid depletion of enzyme activity upon heating in the absence of NADPH. Protein levels of 74 pmol of dFMO1/mg of microsomal protein were determined for a pooled liver microsome sample, suggesting that this enzyme is a major canine hepatic monooxygenase. In conclusion, the expression and characterization of catalytically active dFMO1 will allow the role of this enzyme in the metabolism of xenobiotics to be determined.

Animals↗

Cytochrome b558: the flavin-binding component of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase.

The phagocyte respiratory burst oxidase is a flavin-adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent dehydrogenase and an electron transferase that reduces molecular oxygen to superoxide anion, a precursor of microbicidal oxidants. Several proteins required for assembly of the oxidase have been characterized, but the identity of its flavin-binding component has been unclear. Oxidase activity was reconstituted in vitro with only the purified oxidase proteins p47phox, p67phox, Rac-related guanine nucleotide (GTP)-binding proteins, and membrane-bound cytochrome b558. The reconstituted oxidase required added FAD, and FAD binding was localized to cytochrome b558. Alignment of the amino acid sequence of the beta subunit of cytochrome b558 (gp91phox) with other flavoproteins revealed similarities to the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced) (NADPH)-binding domains. Thus flavocytochrome b558 is the only obligate electron transporting component of the NADPH oxidase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Purification, characterization, and mechanism of a flavin mononucleotide-dependent 2-nitropropane dioxygenase from Neurospora crassa.

A nitroalkane-oxidizing enzyme was purified to homogeneity from Neurospora crassa. The enzyme is composed of two subunits; the molecular weight of each subunit is approximately 40,000. The enzyme catalyzes the oxidation of nitroalkanes to produce the corresponding carbonyl compounds. It acts on 2-nitropropane better than on nitroethane and 1-nitropropane, and anionic forms of nitroalkanes are much better substrates than are neutral forms. The enzyme does not act on aromatic compounds. When the enzyme reaction was conducted in an 18O2 atmosphere with the anionic form of 2-nitropropane as the substrate, acetone (with a molecular mass of 60 Da) was produced. This indicates that the oxygen atom of acetone was derived from molecular oxygen, not from water; hence, the enzyme is an oxygenase. The reaction stoichiometry was 2CH3CH(NO2)CH3 + O2-->2CH3COCH3 + 2HNO2, which is identical to that of the reaction of 2-nitropropane dioxygenase from Hansenula mrakii. The reaction of the Neurospora enzyme was inhibited by superoxide anion scavengers in the same manner as that of the Hansenula enzyme. Both of these enzymes are flavoenzymes; however, the Neurospora enzyme contains flavin mononucleotide as a prosthetic group, whereas the Hansenula enzyme contains flavin adenine dinucleotide.

Acetone↗

Cloning and characterization of FAD1, the structural gene for flavin adenine dinucleotide synthetase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The FAD1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been selected from a genomic library on the basis of its ability to partially correct the respiratory defect of pet mutants previously assigned to complementation group G178. Mutants in this group display a reduced level of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and an increased level of flavin mononucleotide (FMN) in mitochondria. The restoration of respiratory capability by FAD1 is shown to be due to extragenic suppression. FAD1 codes for an essential yeast protein, since disruption of the gene induces a lethal phenotype. The FAD1 product has been inferred to be yeast FAD synthetase, an enzyme that adenylates FMN to FAD. This conclusion is based on the following evidence. S. cerevisiae transformed with FAD1 on a multicopy plasmid displays an increase in FAD synthetase activity. This is also true when the gene is expressed in Escherichia coli. Lastly, the FAD1 product exhibits low but significant primary sequence similarity to sulfate adenyltransferase, which catalyzes a transfer reaction analogous to that of FAD synthetase. The lower mitochondrial concentration of FAD in G178 mutants is proposed to be caused by an inefficient exchange of external FAD for internal FMN. This is supported by the absence of FAD synthetase activity in yeast mitochondria and the presence of both extramitochondrial and mitochondrial riboflavin kinase, the preceding enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway. A lesion in mitochondrial import of FAD would account for the higher concentration of mitochondrial FMN in the mutant if the transport is catalyzed by an exchange carrier. The ability of FAD1 to suppress impaired transport of FAD is explained by mislocalization of the synthetase in cells harboring multiple copies of the gene. This mechanism of suppression is supported by the presence of mitochondrial FAD synthetase activity in S. cerevisiae transformed with FAD1 on a high-copy-number plasmid but not in mitochondrial of a wild-type strain.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Differential synthesis of the polypeptides of aldehyde dehydrogenase and NAD(P)H:flavin oxidoreductase in the bioluminescent bacterium Beneckea harveyi.

The proteins of the bioluminescent bacterium Beneckea harveyi have been labelled with [3H]leucine prior to the induction of bioluminescence, and with [14C]leucine during the development of the bioluminescent system. An aliphatic aldehyde dehydrogenase and a NAD(P)H:flavin oxidoreductase, two enzymes that may be directly involved in the metabolism of the substrates (aldehyde, FMNH2) for the luminescent reaction catalyzed by luciferase, were purified and the isotope ratios of their respective polypeptide chains determined after sodium dodecyl sufate gel electrophoresis. A comparison of these isotope ratios to (a) the isotope ratios of the induced polypeptide chains of luciferase, purified in the same experiment, and (b) the average isotope ratio for the proteins synthesized in concert with growth has provided direct evidence that the synthesis of aldehyde dehydrogenase but not NAD(P)H:flavin oxidoreductase is induced during the development of bioluminescence.

Aldehyde Oxidoreductases↗

The metabolism of pyrazoloacridine (NSC 366140) by cytochromes p450 and flavin monooxygenase in human liver microsomes.

Pyrazoloacridine (PZA) is an experimental antitumor agent presently under investigation for treatment of solid tumors on the basis of its unique mechanism of action and selectivity for human solid tumor xenograft in mice. Using capillary electrophoresis coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, we have identified three oxidative PZA metabolites, 9-desmethyl-PZA, N-demethyl-PZA, and PZA N-oxide. The cytochrome p450 (CYP) isoforms involved in PZA metabolism were characterized by studies with CYP chemical inhibitors, correlation of marker activities for selected CYPs with formation of the metabolites using a human liver panel, and PZA metabolism by cDNA-expressed CYPs. 9-Desmethyl-PZA formation was catalyzed by CYP1A2, whereas N-demethyl-PZA formation was catalyzed by CYP3A4. PZA N-oxide formation was catalyzed by flavin monooxygenase (FMO) rather than CYP, as determined by studies with chemical inhibitors of FMO and metabolism by cDNA-expressed human flavin monooxygenase. After administration of [10b-(14)C]PZA to mice, six urinary metabolites were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography UV and radiochromatograms including 9-desmethyl-PZA, N-demethyl-PZA, and PZA N-oxide. Trace concentrations of 9-desmethyl-PZA and PZA N-oxide were detected in mouse plasma. PZA N-oxide and N-demethyl-PZA were detected in urine from patients after PZA administration. PZA, 9-desmethyl-PZA, and PZA N-oxide inhibited growth of A375 human melanoma cells. IC(50) values were 0.17, 0.11, and 7.0 micro M, respectively, for the three molecules.

Acridines↗

Energy transfer evidence for in vitro and in vivo complexes of Vibrio harveyi flavin reductase P and luciferase.

Conservation of energetically "expensive" metabolites is facilitated by enzymatic intra- and intermolecular channeling mechanisms. Our previous in vitro kinetic studies indicate that Vibrio harveyi reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-flavin mononucleotide (NADPH-FMN) oxidoreductase flavin reductase P (FRP) can transfer reduced riboflavin 5'-phosphate (FMNH2) to bacterial luciferase by direct channeling. However, no evidence has ever been reported for such an FMNH2 channeling between these two enzymes in vivo. The formation of a donor-acceptor enzyme complex, stable or transient, is mandatory for direct metabolite channeling between two enzymes regardless of details of the transfer mechanisms. In this study, we have obtained direct evidence of in vitro and in vivo FRP-luciferase complexes that are functionally active. The approach used is a variation of a technique previously described as Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer. Yellow fluorescence protein (YFP) was fused to FRP to generate an active FRP-YFP fusion enzyme, which emits fluorescence peaking at 530 nm. In comparison with the normal 490 nm bioluminescence, an additional 530 nm component was observed in both the in vitro bioluminescence from the coupled reaction of luciferase and FRP-YFP and the in vivo bioluminescence from frp gene-negative V. harveyi cells that expressed FRP-YFP. This 530 nm bioluminescence component was not detected in a control in which a much higher level of YFP was present but not fused to FRP. Such findings indicate an energy transfer from the exited emitter of luciferase to the FRP component of the luciferase-FRP-YFP complex. Hence, the formation of an active complex of luciferase and FRP-YFP was detected both in vitro and in vivo.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Studies on N-demethylation of methamphetamine by liver microsomes of guinea-pigs and rats: the role of flavin-containing mono-oxygenase and cytochrome P-450 systems.

Relative participation of flavin-containing mono-oxygenase and cytochrome P-450 systems in N-hydroxylation of and formaldehyde release from methamphetamine were studied in vitro using liver microsomes of guinea-pigs and rats. In guinea pigs, only methimazole, an inhibitor of flavin-containing mono-oxygenase, significantly suppressed the above reactions. Formaldehyde release from methamphetamine was significantly inhibited not only by methimazole but also by inhibitors of the cytochrome P-450 system in liver microsomes from rats, but not guinea-pigs. Pretreatment of guinea-pigs with phenobarbital and 3-methylcholanthrene did not enhance the metabolism of methamphetamine. Pretreatment of rats with phenobarbital but not 3-methylcholanthrene increased slightly the N-demethylation of methamphetamine by liver microsomes. The results indicate that a marked species difference exists in the enzymes concerned with N-demethylation of methamphetamine. N-Oxidation predominates in guinea-pigs, whereas in rats, N-oxidation and C-oxidation of the methyl group participate equally as the initial reaction of the N-demethylation pathway.

Animals↗

Role of flavin-containing monooxygenase in the in vitro biotransformation of aldicarb in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

1. The in vitro biotransformation of 14C-aldicarb was examined in liver, kidney, and gill microsomes from the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). 2. In all tissues the major metabolite was aldicarb sulphoxide. Addition of the cytochrome P-450 inhibitor, N-benzylimidazole, failed to alter significantly aldicarb sulphoxide levels, while co-incubation with the flavin-containing monooxygenase substrates, N,N-dimethylaniline or methimazole, caused significant decreases in sulphoxide formation in liver and gill microsomes. 3. Aldicarb sulphoxide formation was optimal at pH 8.0, and had Michaelis-Menten kinetics with an apparent Km of 46.7 microM and a Vmax of 0.216 nmol/min per mg. 4. Aldicarb sulphoxide formation was competitively inhibited by co-incubation with N,N-dimethylaniline in liver microsomes. These data indicate that flavin-containing monooxygenase plays an important role in the in vitro biotransformation of aldicarb in rainbow trout.

Aldicarb↗

Cellular localization of flavin-containing monooxygenase in rabbit lung.

A specific form of flavin monooxygenase has been identified in the lungs of a number of species. Distribution of the pulmonary flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMOp) is of interest because it oxidatively metabolizes a wide variety of nitrogen-, sulfur-, and phosphorous-containing xenobiotics, some of which form highly toxic reactive intermediates. We have identified the nonciliated bronchiolar epithelial (Clara) cell as the predominant location for this enzyme in rabbit lung. In addition, protein in ciliated, endothelial, type I, and type II cells and in tracheal lining layer reacted with antibodies to FMOp. In all these cell types antigen was found associated with cytoplasmic organelles, and in the Clara cell antigen was most concentrated in areas rich in smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Staining of ciliated surfaces was also observed at both the light and electron microscopy levels. Extracellular antigen was also apparent in tracheal lining layer smeared onto glass slides. We compared the location of the FMOp with that of two enzymes of the cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase system (studied here and elsewhere), cytochrome P450 IIB (P450 IIB), and NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase (reductase), and concluded that (1) FMOp is detected in all cells where P450 IIB and reductase are both present (Clara, type II, and ciliated); (2) FMOp and P450 IIB, but not reductase, are detected in endothelial cells; (3) P450 IIB alone is detected in the plasma membrane, cilia, and microvillae of ciliated cells and plasma membrane of endothelial cells; and (4) FMOp alone is detected in type I cells.

Animals↗

Metabolism of diallyl disulfide by human liver microsomal cytochromes P-450 and flavin-containing monooxygenases.

The metabolism of diallyl disulfide (DADS), a garlic sulfur compound, was investigated in human liver microsomes. Diallyl thiosulfinate (allicin) was the only metabolite observed and its formation followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a Km = 0.61 +/- 0.2 mM and a Vmax = 18.5 +/- 4.2 nmol/min/mg protein, respectively (mean +/- S.E. M., n = 4). Both flavin-containing monooxygenase and the cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases (CYP) were involved in DADS oxidation, but the contribution of CYP was predominant. The cytochrome P-450 isoforms involved in this metabolism were investigated using selective chemical inhibitors, microsomes from cells expressing recombinant CYP isoenzymes, and studying the correlation of the rate of DADS oxidation with specific monooxygenase activities of human liver microsomes. Diethyldithiocarbamate and tranylcypromine inhibited allicin formation, whereas other specific inhibitors had low or no effect. Most of the different human microsomes from cells expressing CYP were able to catalyze this reaction, but CYP2E1 showed the highest affinity with a substantial activity. Furthermore, allicin formation by human liver microsomes was correlated with p-nitrophenol hydroxylase activity, a marker of CYP2E1, and tolbutamide hydroxylase activity, a marker of CYP2C9. Among these approaches only CYP2E1 was identified in each case, which suggested that DADS is preferentially metabolized to allicin by CYP2E1 in human liver. However the minor participation of other CYP forms and flavin-containing monooxygenases is likely.

Allyl Compounds↗

The role of flavin-containing monooxygenases in drug metabolism and development.

This review discusses the role of the human flavin-containing monooxygenase in drug metabolism and drug development. The literature covered includes comprehensive reviews, as well as recent work that illustrates: (i) the role of flavin-containing monooxygenase in drug metabolism; (ii) its use for enhancing drug candidate selection and lead optimization, and improving pharmaceutical properties; (iii) its use to avoid drug-drug interactions; and (iv) its application to animal models. Using optimal procedures for drug metabolism evaluation, understanding the chemical complexity of metabolites, using recombinant technologies and applying new methods that are successful in other fields will help advance this field of drug metabolism and development.

Amines↗

Spinach glycolate oxidase and yeast flavocytochrome b2 are structurally homologous and evolutionarily related enzymes with distinctly different function and flavin mononucleotide binding.

A comparison of the three-dimensional structures of the flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-dependent enzymes glycolate oxidase, flavocytochrome b2, and trimethylamine dehydrogenase is presented. Their flavin-binding domains all have the same structural motif, the 8-fold beta/alpha-barrel domain, which is also present in a large number of other enzymes. FMN is bound in a similar fashion in all three enzymes. The binding site is at the carboxyl-terminal end of the eight beta-strands of the barrel where the active site is invariably found in this type of domain structure. The similarity of the structures of glycolate oxidase and flavocytochrome b2 extends to the loop regions and even outside the beta/alpha-barrels with a root mean square deviation of 0.93 A for 311 superimposed C alpha-atoms and with a sequence identity of 37%. A detailed analysis of their active sites shows, however, that the orientation of FMN is significantly different in the two structures due to different conformations of residues in the end of strand one. Thus, in flavocytochrome b2 a hydrogen bond is formed between the FMN N-5 position and the main chain amide of Ala-198, while in glycolate oxidase, the ring system is tilted away from the strand, creating a pocket on the re-side of the FMN ring where a water molecule is bound. Model building shows that this site could accommodate the hydroperoxide moiety of a FMN-4a-hydroperoxide intermediate. Thus, in the course of evolution, a few mutations in, and close to, the active sites have fine tuned these enzymes to exert their specific functions as an oxidase or transferase, respectively.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗

Complete amino acid sequence of the cytochrome subunit and amino-terminal sequence of the flavin subunit of flavocytochrome c (sulfide dehydrogenase) from Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum.

The complete amino acid sequence of the 86-residue heme subunit of flavocytochrome c (sulfide dehydrogenase) from the green phototrophic bacterium Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum strain Tassajara has been determined as follows: APEQSKSIPRGEILSLSCAGCHGTDGKSESIIPTIYGRSAEYIESALLDFKSGA- RPSTVMGRHAKGYSDEEIHQIAEYFGSLSTMNN. The subunit has a single heme-binding site near the N terminus, consisting of a pair of cysteine residues at positions 18 and 21. The out-of-plane ligands are apparently contributed by histidine 22 and methionine 60. The molecular weight including heme is 10,014. The heme subunit is apparently homologous to small cytochromes c by virtue of the location of the heme-binding site and its extraplanar ligands. However, the amino acid sequence is closer to Paracoccus sp. cytochrome c554(548) (37%) than it is to the heme subunit from Pseudomonas putida p-cresol methylhydroxylase flavocytochrome c (20%). The flavocytochrome c heme subunit is only 14% similar to the small cytochrome c555 also found in Chlorobium. Secondary structure predictions suggest N- and C-terminal helices as expected, but the midsection of the protein probably folds somewhat differently from the small cytochromes of known three-dimensional structure such as Pseudomonas cytochrome c551. Analyses of the residues near the exposed heme edges of the cytochrome subunits of P. putida and C. thiosulfatophilum flavocytochromes c (assuming homology to proteins of known structure) indicate that charged residues are not conserved, suggesting that electrostatic interactions are not involved in the association of the heme and flavin subunits. The N-terminal sequence of the flavoprotein subunit of flavocytochrome has also been determined. It shows no similarity to the comparable region of the p-cresol methylhydroxylase flavoprotein subunit from P. putida. The flavin-binding hexapeptide, isolated and sequenced earlier (Kenney, W. C., McIntire, W., and Yamanaka, T. (1977) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 483, 467-474), is situated at positions 40-46.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Covalent structure of liver microsomal flavin-containing monooxygenase form 1.

Liver microsomal, flavin-containing monooxygenases catalyze NADPH- and oxygen-dependent oxidation of a wide variety of antipsychotic and narcotic drugs. Two forms of these enzymes have been isolated and partially characterized (Ozols, J. (1989) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 163, 49-55). The amino acid sequence of form 1 is presented here. Sequence determination has been achieved by automated Edman degradation of peptides generated by chemical and enzymatic cleavages. The NH2 terminus of form 1 oxygenase is blocked. Partial acid hydrolysis of the blocked peptides removed acetyl groups and permitted their analysis by Edman degradation. Form 1 monooxygenase contains 536 residues. A peptide of 32 residues at the COOH terminus of the protein could not be sequenced in a gas-phase or pulsed liquid-phase sequenator, due to its extreme hydrophobicity. Covalent coupling of this peptide to an aryl amine membrane by means of carbodiimide, followed by automated solid-phase sequencing, established the order of 30 amino acid residues. The hydrophobic segment at the COOH terminus presumably functions to anchor the monooxygenase to the microsomal membrane. The amino acid sequence of form 1 monooxygenase, despite overlapping substrate specificity, is not related to the cytochrome P-450 superfamily. Comparison of the sequence of form 1 oxygenase with other known sequences, except for some short segments similar to those in the bacterial flavin-containing monooxygenases, did not reveal significant sequence similarities that would suggest a structural or evolutionary relationship.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Pipecolic acid biosynthesis in Rhizoctonia leguminicola. II. Saccharopine oxidase: a unique flavin enzyme involved in pipecolic acid biosynthesis.

The fungal parasite Rhizoctonia leguminicola produces two indolizidine alkaloids, slaframine and swainsonine, of physiological interest. These alkaloids are biosynthesized from pipecolic acid which in turn is derived from L-lysine in this fungus as shown in the accompanying paper (Wickwire, B.M., Harris, C.M., Harris, T.M., and Broquist, H.P. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 14742-14747): L-lysine----saccharopine----delta 1----piperideine-6- carboxylate----pipecolate. This paper concerns the discovery, purification, and properties of a flavoenzyme, termed saccharopine oxidase, which carries out the oxidative cleavage of saccharopine as follows: Saccharopine + O2----delta 1-piperidine-6-carboxylate + glutamate + H2O2 The enzyme was purified 2,000-fold to homogeneity (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) in 14% yield from R. leguminicola mycelia, and had a native molecular mass of about 45,000 daltons by gel filtration (fast protein liquid chromatography Superose). Evidence for the presence of a flavin in the enzyme was drawn from these considerations: (a) the enzyme, while oxidatively cleaving saccharopine, concomitantly reduces 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol; (b) the purified enzyme has a fluorescence spectrum typical of flavins; and (c) the enzyme requires oxygen and produces hydrogen peroxide. Good correlation was shown with purified saccharopine oxidase between disappearance of saccharopine with the concomitant appearance of delta 1-piperideine-6-carboxylate plus glutamate. The enzyme has a pH optimum about 6 and a Km for saccharopine of 0.128 mM. The enzyme apparently exists in R. leguminicola to shunt saccharopine, a major lysine metabolite, into a secondary pathway of lysine metabolism leading to pipecolate and subsequently to slaframine and swainsonine.

Amino Acids↗

The non-flavin redox center of the streptococcal NADH peroxidase. I. Thiol reactivity and redox behavior in the presence of urea.

Unlike the 2-electron-reduced (EH2) forms of the flavoprotein disulfide reductases and mercuric reductase, the native EH2 form of the streptococcal NADH peroxidase is quite refractile toward chemical modification with thiol-specific reagents. In the presence of 1.3 M urea, however, the single thiol of the reduced enzyme reacts with phenylmercuric acetate with a t1/2 of 3 min. This modification abolishes the charge-transfer absorbance band at 540 nm and inactivates the enzyme; the latter effect is shown to be reversed with dithiothreitol. Alkylation of the streptococcal peroxidase with iodo[1-14C]acetamide under reducing conditions in the presence of 8 M guanidine hydrochloride allows the isolation of a single labeled tryptic peptide with the sequence: Gly-Asp-Phe-Ile-Ser-Phe-Leu-Ser-C*ys-Gly-Met-Gln-Leu-Tyr-Leu- Glu-Gly-Lys. This sequence is identical to that previously reported (Poole, L. B., and Claiborne, A. (1988) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 153, 261-266) for the cysteinyl peptide isolated from the NADH peroxidase labeled metabolically with [35S]cysteine. Careful examination of the physical properties of the streptococcal peroxidase in the presence of 1.3 M urea shows that, while catalytic activity and native structural features are largely retained, the relative potentials of flavin and non-flavin redox centers are dramatically affected. We propose that low concentrations of urea stabilize an intermediate state in the transition between native and denatured forms, which is responsible for the observed changes in both active-site thiol reactivity and in redox properties.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Polyamine effects on cytochrome P-450- and flavin-containing monooxygenase-mediated oxidation of xenobiotics.

The effects of in vitro addition of polyamines on the female mouse hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450- and flavin-containing monooxygenase-dependent oxidation of xenobiotics were examined. Putrescine, spermine, and spermidine all caused a different degree of stimulation of oxidative dearylation of parathion and O-ethyl-O-p-nitrophenylphosphonothioate, epoxidation of aldrin, and O-deethylation of 7-ethoxycoumarin. The degree of stimulation was greatest in the presence of spermidine. Enhancement of aldrin epoxidation by spermidine was higher in pregnant mice as compared to nonpregnant mice. Total phorate S-oxidation was stimulated by all the polyamines tested. Phorate S-oxidation, mediated by microsomal flavin-containing monooxygenase, was only slightly increased by spermine and spermidine while putrescine caused slight inhibition. Of the various steps involved in the monooxygenation cycle examined, only the rates of NADPH oxidation and cytochrome P-450 reduction were significantly increased. Efficient coupling of NADPH utilization with substrate oxidation appears to be the underlying mechanism responsible for the polyamine-stimulated xenobiotic oxidation.

Aldrin↗